Somalia

WFP Somalia aims to address basic food needs, strengthen coping mechanisms and support the efforts to achieve food security of vulnerable Somalis so they can cope more effectively with hardships.
WFP’s programmes range from relief, which is provided during emergencies, to activities designed to strengthen the resilience of households against future shocks, such as droughts and floods. We are using a targeted approach to relief assistance for people and communities in crisis, including social safety nets and livelihood support projects, some of which are provided on a seasonal basis when needs are greatest, such as between harvests.

WFP is also concentrating on nutritional programming. The nutrition strategy in Somalia focuses on treatment of both chronic and acute malnutrition during the current emergency, as well as implementing activities that concentrate on preventing people from becoming malnourished. During lean or dry seasons in highly food insecure areas, WFP will provide family rations to malnourished mothers and young children who are part of our supplementary feeding programmes, as there is the likelihood that other family members are struggling to meet their daily food requirements and may be malnourished.

WFP has introduced the use of vouchers as an alternative to food distributions. By providing these instead of food, more than 15,000 beneficiaries so far have been given greater choice of what and where to purchase commodities, while traders are benefiting from the boost to the local economy. Eventually, this approach may be expanded to relief, recovery and resilience activities in parts of the country where market conditions allow.

The World Food Programme Somalia has joined the respective country offices of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the United Nations Children’s Agency (UNICEF) to plan and implement a Joint Strategy on Resilience in Somalia. Through this Joint Strategy, the three UN agencies will align and sequence their existing programme activities so the combined results can achieve greater success in enabling communities cope with hardship more effectively. The strategy’s three building blocks are based on enhancing household access to income; enhancing individual’s good health, nutrition, education, safety and skills; and assuring basic household needs by providing predictable assistance in times of need. Initially, the strategy is being implemented in four areas (Dolow, Burao, Odeweyne and Iskushuban) where the agencies have safe and constant access.

Mother and Child Health and Nutrition (MCHN) Programme
MCHN aims to prevent both acute and chronic malnutrition (wasting and stunting) in children under the age of 2 years. This approach focuses on the first 1,000 days of life (from conception to age 2) because this is the window of opportunity for preventing irreversible damages to a child’s growth and mental development due to poor nutrition. Pregnant and nursing women are therefore also targeted to ensure a good start in life for their offspring. The beneficiaries, irrespective of their nutritional status, receive daily supplements of fortified blended food to complement a generally poor diet. In Somalia, the programme is implemented through functional Maternal & Child Health clinics to ensure that beneficiaries receive nutritional support as well as health interventions necessary for healthy growth: immunisation, de-worming, treatment of diarrhea and other common illnesses, ante-natal and post-natal medical check-ups, etc. Pregnant or nursing women can stay in the programme until delivery and/or when the child reaches 6 months, while children can remain in the programme until they reach 24 months of age.

Targeted Supplementary Feeding Programme (TSFP)
This programme aims to treat mild-to-moderate acute malnutrition (wasting) in children below 5 years of age, as well as pregnant and nursing women, and to prevent them from sliding further into severe wasting. Malnourishment among children and women is diagnosed on the basis of body measurements (weight, height, mid-upper arm circumference) using internationally recognised thresholds. Once in the programme, children and mothers receive a daily supplement of energy- and nutrient-dense specialised food (e.g. improved, fortified blended foods or ready-to-use supplementary food) to complement their diet, help them regain weight and have their micronutrient stores replenished. To ensure the food supplement goes to the malnourished child/mother during lean or dry seasons, WFP provides a monthly family ration composed of cereal, pulses and vegetable oil for the other family members. The duration of treatment usually ranges between two and three months.

Blanket Supplementary Feeding Programme (BSFP)
WFP has adopted an approach of seasonal nutritional assistance to internally displaced (IDP) communities in the north and central regions that experience lean periods. Blanket Supplementary Feeding is being provided between harvests when the traditional foods of milk and meat are in short supply. BSFP is also being used to target IDP communities that have extremely high Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) rates. Through this programme, all children under the age of 3 receive nutrient-dense, ready-to-use supplementary food to assure their continued health and growth. At times of acute need, children under the age of five and pregnant and nursing mothers may also receive nutrition products under BSFP.

School Meals
To relieve hunger and encourage continued enrolment in primary school, WFP provides cooked school meals to children. In Somaliland, Puntland and Central regions, we particularly encourage the attendance of girls, providing them with a take-home family ration of vegetable oil. School meals are a vital social safety net for vulnerable households, especially in times of crisis.
Food for Work/ Food for Assets/ Food for Training
Through Food for Assets (FFA) WFP provides food rations to support self-help initiatives that restore infrastructure and the natural environment, as well as create new assets. The improvements enable communities to recover from past shocks, such as drought, and will increase their ability to cope more effectively during disaster without having to resort to harmful strategies such as selling assets and livestock. Activities can include creating or repairing water catchments, dams, shallow wells, feeder roads to markets, irrigation canals and using soil and water conservation measures to fight soil erosion and restore degraded land. WFP’s interventions are tailored to local livelihood systems and specific activities are selected by each community according to their own needs.
FFA projects are sometimes implemented in times of emergency as short-term relief activities, known as Food for Work.. They may include repairs to community feeder roads, de-silting of water catchments, collection of rubbish and clearing of invasive species.
Food for Training (FFT) is a component of Food for Assets that targets primarily urban populations, especially women. WFP provides food rations as incentives for community members to participate in training that teaches practical vocational skills, such as literacy or tailoring.
The rations provided under Food for Work, Assets and Training are household rations, intended for the workers or trainees to share with their families.

Institutional Feeding
Institutional feeding provides monthly food rations to TB and HIV/AIDS clients and their families through treatment centres. This ensures a more balanced nutritional intake and improved health during the period of treatment, thereby increasing the efficiency of the medication.

Rapid Emergency Responses
In times of emergency, there may be a need to provide food, such as High Energy Biscuits (HEBs) to communities in transit, or targeted general food distributions to those parts of the population directly affected by a shock. These are initial response to crises ahead of other targeted initiatives.

Special Operations
To support the provision of emergency food assistance, WFP is implementing two Special Operations. The first Special Operation is the United Nations Humanitarian Air Support (UNHAS) which facilitates the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance and the movement of aid workers to and within Somalia by providing critical and safe air services in Somalia. UNHAS has medical and security evacuation permanently available for the re-location of staff and can airlift essential relief cargoes, such as medical supplies, to locations inaccessible by road. In 2012 UNHAS operated 8 aircraft and transported more than 24,000 passengers and 200 metric tons of cargo.
The second Special Operation enhances WFP logistics operations in Somalia and facilitates the delivery of humanitarian assistance through emergency repairs and rehabilitation works at Mogadishu and Bossaso sea ports, as well as road and bridge rehabilitation at targeted key corridors. With the aim of increasing the draft in the ports - thus allowing larger ships to berth/discharge and increase cost effectiveness of humanitarian shipments - WFP has successfully completed dredging of Bossaso and Mogadishu sea ports. It has also completed the installation of communications/electronic equipment in the marine tower at Mogadishu to improve safety and security at that port. WFP conducts periodic training for port staff to ensure there is effective and efficient service delivery at the ports.